At that point, Syracuse was leading Notre Dame 31-18 in a game the Orange would ultimately win 61-55. Cooney, the Orange sophomore, had nearly outscored the Irish himself in that first half, his 17 points a testament to his sensational shooting day.

It was one of those nights for the No. 1 unbeaten Orange. Aside from Cooney, who authored a career performance with his consistently falling 3-pointers and his new swagger off the dribble, nobody else in an SU uniform distinguished himself Monday night.

It was tempting to blame the 29 percent shooting from starters not named Trevor Cooney, the 33-28 deficit on the backboards, the nearly season-low 13 total free throws to a general malaise after the open-throttle win over Duke Saturday night.

Syracuse players, afterward, denied they lacked motivation for Notre Dame and instead blamed a combination of mounting fatigue and keen Irish strategy for their struggles.

"It was just a tough matchup for us," SU forward Jerami Grant said. "They packed it in and we weren't making jump shots from the beginning. And it's going to be a tough game if we're not hitting jump shots."

The Notre Dame style — the slow slog of offense that pushed the shot clock to the brink of expiration — has been an Irish staple over the years. When Notre Dame, a team ranked 235th in Ken Pomeroy's adjusted tempo, meets an Orange team that forces opponents to search for zone seams, the pace promises to be glacial.

Combine the deliberate play, then contrast the heightened emotions for Duke, and the Orange seemed almost destined to struggle.

"I think we treated the game the same," SU forward C.J. Fair said. "But knowing we were playing Duke — all this hype and stuff — it gets you more excited, it gets you more amped up. And when you come play Notre Dame in (48) hours, it's just hard to get that same excitement that quick. And Notre Dame, they're not a fun-style team to play. They weren't going to make the game interesting. That's why they're successful — (because of) how their style is."

Fair and the rest of his teammates, too, did not discount the fatigue factor.

SU has played three games in six days. Fair's two minutes of bench time on Monday represented his first game reprieve since the one minute he sat vs. Boston College on Jan. 13.

SU players — from Fair to Grant to Tyler Ennis to Rakeem Christmas — acknowledged a certain wear and tear on their bodies. The players said they try to immerse themselves in the healing Melo Center ice baths, they apply ice to sore, weary areas. But sometimes, fatigue triumphs.

"After each practice you try to get in the ice bath, try to get some ice — just to keep your body refreshed," Fair said. "But still, it takes its toll on you when you play a lot of games in a short amount of time."

"I think it's fatigue a little bit," Ennis said. "Mentally, we weren't all there at some points. But we had enough to pull it out."

The state of exhaustion, as real as it seems to Syracuse players, can also play tricks on their psyche. Fair, coming off the game of his career Saturday vs. Duke, missed 11 of the 13 shots he attempted vs. Notre Dame. As the shots keep rolling or clanging off the rim, the cumulative effect started taking its toll.

"Today felt rough just because I wasn't playing the way I could have," Fair said. "And then a lot of things get to your head. You might think: 'What's wrong with my shot, am I not jumping enough?' Sometimes when your body's tired, you don't really feel it during the game."